Fencing

Tiger Woods, John Elway, and Mariano Rivera could sit down and learn something from Keeth Smart ‘s preformace in the 2008 Olympics. The US came into the team event ranked 7th and expectations were low with out US steadfast Ivan Lee.

The pressure was on for the US to pick up the slack without Lee and nobody stepped up better than the leader of the team, Keeth Smart. The team format features two teams of three fencers, they fencing in increments of 5 going to 45 inheriting the score of the fencers before them. In 2004 Smart lead two outstanding comebacks in the medal rounds that fell just short losing to France and Russia 44-45.

In the quarterfinal round the US faced #2 Hungary armed with one of the most respect and highly rated fencers in the world Zsolt Nemcsik and 18-year-old star Aron Szilagyi. The scrappy US team kept pace with the Hungarians in part thanks to Jason Rogers bringing the US back to within a touch in the final round but they entered the final bout down 36-40 with Smart facing Nemcsik. Smart outscored Nemcsik 9-4 in the final round to beat the Hungarians 45-44.

It was a performance that he would top in the semifinals against #3 Russia. The US jumped out to an early lead 15-9 at the end of the first round. At the start of the second round Alexey Yakimenko ran off 11 touches on Rogers to put the Russians ahead 20-19. And the deficit only grew reaching 35-28, Tim Morehouse gained some of it back in the second to last bout scoring 7 touches. Smart entered the final round with the greatest Sabrist in the history of the sport Stanislav Pozdnyakov trailing 35-40.

Pozdnyakov took control early and it looked like a repeat of the 2004 defeat of the US by Russia, but Smart found a rhythm on defense and began to close the gap. And injury to Pozdnyakov’s wrist only built the momentum in Smart’s favor, but in a long action Pozdnyakov scored the winning touché and the US lost 43-45. Confusion shortly reigned as replay showed that Keeth had stepped out of bounds in an advantageous position and the action was annulled. Keeth scored the next two touches and the US advanced to the gold medal bout for the first time in Men’s Sabre. Smart had outscored Pozdnyakov, a man with more World Championships than anyone in the history of the weapon, an incredible 10-4.

Even in the loss 37-45 to France for the gold medal Smart scored 20 of the US’ touches, 9 of them in the final bout, almost completing another amazing comeback. Even with this loss to France, the Olympic dream that started in 2004 was finished giving Smart, Rogers and Morehouse who are all likely to retire after this outstanding performance.

With two Olympic gold medals in her trophy case, Valentina Vezzali, the defending champion, won her third straight Olympic gold medal in an exciting women’s individual foil medal match. 

Vezzali trailed South Korea’s Nam Hyun Hee 4-5 with less than one minute to go. Valentina composed herself, thrust her sword for a point and leveled the match 5-5. With three seconds to go, her final touch earned both gold and unique status in Olympic history. 

Vezzali could now become one of the most decorated female fencer in Olympic history—and continues an Italian dominance in this sport. Either Vezzali or Giovanna Trillini, practice partners from the same town north of Rome, have won the World Cup gold medal in women's foil since 1992, except for 2006. Margherita Granbassi (pictured above), a fellow Italian, won that year.

Vezzali, Giovanna Trillini, and  Margherita Granbassi all won foil matches to reach the semifinals, as expected, seeded 1, 2, and 3.  Nam, however, defeated Trillini 15-10.  Vezzali beat Granbassi 12-3, after which Margherita said Vezzali was literally untouchable.  

Vezzali had won five total Olympic medals—two individual golds in women’s foil, two team foil golds, and one individual silver. Her training partner, Giovanna Trillini is a seven time Olympic medal winner—four golds, one silver and two bronzes. Margherita has consistently finished in the top three in world foil competition.  Granbassi’s talent may only be matched by her beauty, with appearances in magazines accolading her as one of the most beautiful athletes at the Athens Olympics.  

Britta Heidemann, Germany, also possesses both superior fencing talent and renowned beauty. Heidemann, seeded number one after her World Championship gold in 2007, won the gold medal in women’s epee in Beijing. 

Heidemann defeated Li Na (3), China, 15-13 in a tightly contested semifinal match and, then, Ana Maria Branza (2), Romania, 15-11 for the gold. Britta posed nude in Germany’s Playboy edition in 2004 (a photo I don't think I can include). Heidemann hopes that the two golds Germany has won so far will stimulate increased German interest in fencing. 

Heidemann has also enjoyed some celebrity status in the Chinese newspapers. Britta lived in China for three months when she was fifteen, and currently majors in Chinese Cultural Studies in Cologne. 

After her gold, she answered some of the many media questions in Chinese. The China News Agency attributed her love for China as the reason she won the gold. Heidemann will return to China for work in September.    

Vezzali and Granbassi intend on continuing to compete internationally, and will be at the London Olympics in 2012. Trillini is retiring. Vezzali will take her gold medal home to her son (see last two photos), who wanted the medal as a souvenir of her trip to Beijing. 

Could Heidemann be persuaded by the Chinese to represent them in 2012? Fencing is clearly a joy to watch. 

Every guy knows what it's like to punched, kicked, clobbered, struck or walloped right in the boys. 

I was eight years old when it first happened to me.  I was standing on top of a fire-hydrant when I lost my footing and dropped straight down, the top of the hydrant rushing up at what seemed an unnatural speed and tagging me right in the testicles.

It hurt like hell.  The pain radiated throughout in sickening waves of wretchedness and agony but, fortunately, there was no permanent damage although, to this day, I couldn't tell you why I thought standing on a fire hydrant was a good idea.

A female friend once told me it's no picnic to get "kicked in the box" either but I have no base of reference on that so I'll have to take her word for it.

It was the agony of defeat that Canadian Fencer Sherraine Schalm - ranked fifth in the world and one of Canada's best hopes for a medal - had to deal with as she participated in the demise of her Olympic dream with a 15-13 loss to her Hungarian opponent.

Schalm summed up her Olympic Games - and perhaps that of Canada's as well -  in a single, precise quote that just about every one can relate to.

"It's like I imagine being a man, it's like being kicked in the nuts repeatedly, that's how bad it feels, you feel like you want to curl up and die,"

Truer words have never been spoken.

Schalm was just outperformed by her opponent but some Canadian Olympians point to a much bigger issue, one that cuts to the core of Canada's lacklustre performances in Beijing.

Money. Or, rather, a lack of it.

Despite increased funding over the years from both the federal government and the private sector, Canada's funding for its Olympic Atheletes pales in comparison to those of its neighbours to the south, China and Russia, all of whom are in the top ten in the medal standings.  In fact, of the G8 nations, Canada is the only one not to have a medal.

Even Tajikistan is outperforming Canada and I doubt many Canadians would even be able to point to Tajikistan on a map.

The finger-pointing has already began among Canada's athletes, including boxer Adam Trupish who, after taking a shellacking, pointed out Sports Canada gave him absolutely no training to prepare for the Olympics, no prep to recover from an injury and hadn't even fought since October.  He also noted, funding has dropped for the National Boxing Federation from $800,00 to $450,000. 

Canada's kayakers and badminton players are also complaining about a serious lack of funding which, unfortunately, does make it difficult to compete even if people snicker at the fact we have a national badminton team.

Regardless, the numbers don't lie.  It's estimated the host nation is spending upwards of 40-billion on Olympic-related initiatives whereas Canada plunks down a measly 40-million, for the both the Summer and Winter Games.

Perhaps what the Canadian government needs to do is throw a little extra cash in to the coffers of Sport Canada. 

I would suggest the first thing to do with the extra money would be to promote the various sports our athletes are involved in, from synchro-diving to fencing to badminton.  In advertising, you gotta' spend money to make money and promoting our athletes in every province and territory would go a long way in securing corporate sponsorship. 

If you want big business to chip in, prove to them they will receive a sizable return on their investment.  Disneyland made billions by getting sports superstars to exclaim, to a worldwide audience, "I'm going to Disneyland!" after winning the big game.  

I'm sure if you had Sherraine Schalm tell all Canadians that she got the boost she needed by snacking on a bag of Nacho Cheese Doritos, it wouldn't just be the pot-heads heading out to buy a bag.

Otherwise, Canadians can expect to see our Summer Games medal count dwindle further as other countries invest billions in to training programs for its Olympians.  It's only a matter of time before it hits us where it really hurts, the Winter Olympics.

And wouldn't that be a kick to the nuts.

Men’s Sabre was full of surprises in 2008, in one of the more upset leaden Olympics in recent history. Chinese fencer Hanming Zhou rode the energy of a home crowd to oust 2004 Silver medal winner Zsolt Nemcsik in the round of 32 in a stunning upset 15-13, and this set the tone for the day. In the same round French sabrest Nicolas Lopez dominated Stanislav Pozdnyakov, who is in likely his last Olympics, 15-8. Pozdnyakov is hardly in decline, winning the 2007 World Championship to cement his place in history as the greatest of all time, but he seemed overwhelmed by the energy of the 28-year-old Lopez.

The round of 16 featured even more surprises: defending Olympic Champion Aldo Montano losing 14-15 to Jorge Pina of Spain, 20 seed Julien Pillet defeated 4 seed Rares Dumitrescu and Aliaksandr Buikevich of Belgrade defeated the young German star #1 seed Nicolas Limbach 15-14.  In the round of 8 a heartbreaking moment for US Fencing when 5th ranked Keeth Smart lost to Pillet of France.

The grande finale to this outstanding tourney was the champion Man Zhong, who defeated the Italian captain Luigi Tarantino en route to an unlikely gold finish. Zhong is a recent emergence and was riding a hot streak entering the games, and the Chinese crowd undoubtedly energized him as he out hustled all of his competitors.

If anything can be taken from this event going into the team tourney, it is the dominance of the French, the defending Olympic and World Champions. All three of the starters on their national team reached the round of 16, something no other team matched and scored many of the major upsets. Pillet’s victories over Keeth Smart and Rares Dumitrescu and Lopez’s dismantling of Pozdnyakov and Eunseok Oh of Korea bode very well for Frances chance of repeating.

Boris Sanson the captain and veteran did not have his best tournament but he is very capable of taking over in the team event. The French will have their work cut out for them, this strong performance has landed the target on their backs for many of the world’s top sabrists are looking for redemption in the team event.  

American women swept the medals in saber fencing today. Mariel Zagunis won America’s first gold medal. First, she had to overcome Becca Ward, 15-11, in the semifinals.

Mariel then triumphed over top-ranked Sada Jacobson from Dunwoody, GA in the finals. Jacobson’s silver and Ward’s bronze put all three United States’ women on the medal stand. Zagunis and Jacobsen took gold and bronze in the Athens games in 2004.

Zagunis’s gold medal in Athens in 2004 was the first gold medal for the United States in fencing in over 100 years. This time, she again had to overcome the best in the world–her teammates.

In the finals, against No. 1 ranked Jacobson, Zagunis led throughout, in what was her most lopsided win of the competition, 15-8. Zagunis and Ward’s match in the semis was, according to Mariel, “the hardest bout I’ve ever fenced in my career”.

Afterwards, Ward left in tears. Both belong to the same Beaverton, OR fencing club. 

The United States women have shown the world that American fencing has become a powerhouse. Jacobson and Ward were the top seeds. The American women are also favored to win the team gold. Jacobson won bronze in the 2004 Olympics, two NCAA saber championships at Yale in 2001 and 2002, and two NCAA championships in 2004 and 2006.

Ward won the gold medal at saber in the 2006 World Championships, beating Zagunis. 

Zagunis will resume her education at Notre Dame, having taken time off after her first semester to prepare for the Olympics. Ward will begin her freshman year at Duke after the Olympics. Expect both to be competing against each other for NCAA and World Championships for years to come. Both Jacobson and Zagunis have parents who competed in the Olympics. 

The United States had no medals prior to the fencing competition. Now, the U.S. is the only team with three medals. 

The US Women's Sabre boasts an Olympic Champion, a World Champion, and the current #1 ranked women in the world, and those honors are spread amoung the three starters for the US.

This powerhouse of a team burst on to World Stage in 2004 when Mariel Zagunis (pictured above) came literally from the bottom of the Olympics to win the gold medal. Since then US Women's sabre dominance has run almost unbroken.

Mariel joined the Jacobson sisters as the top ranked women sabrists in the world, but Emily Jacoboson would leave international fencing for the most part after the 2004 games. Her sister Sada is considered the best in the world and had won the bronze at the Athens and is currently ranked #1 in the world.

Right after the end the 2004 games the combination of Mariel and Sada looked formidable enough, but in 2005 another women's sabre giant would announce her presence.

In 2006 at the age of 16 Rebbeca Ward from the US won the 16 and under, 19 and under, and Senior World Championships, and has been ranked #2 in the world ever since. In the 2006 Senior World Championships Zagunis and Sada finished 2nd and 3rd behind Ward, sweeping the medal stand for the US.

Since then the US Women's sabre has fallen on hard times, by their standards, taking a silver behind the French at 2006 Team World Championships. Then at the 2007 World Championships the US failed to medal in the individual despite two top eight finishes. And in the team event they faired not better placing 7th.

They finished the 2007-2008 season ranked #1 and are ready to sweep aside memories of 2007 and reassert the US as the premier nation for women's sabre.

They are heavily favored to win, and while it very well could be Sada Jacobson's final Olympics, Mariel likely and Ward assuredly have another run the gold in 2012.

The US Men's Sabre team in 2004 came with in 1 touch of fencing in the gold medal bout, a first for Men's Sabre team from the US. Now in 2008 the Men's Sabre team's expectations are running very high but they are going to China without one of the main stays in US sabre fencing for years.

Despite winning the 2008 National Title, Ivan Lee's poor showing in international competitions in 2008 sunk his Olympic dreams. Ivan, overshadowed by Keith Smart's 2004 #1 in the world ranking, has been one of the finest Men's Sabre fencers in US History winning several National Championships and posting excellent career finishs in World Cups, World Championships and 2004 Summer Games.

His veteran presence will be sorely missed in the high pressure Olympic setting, but the good news for the US is that the majority of their team are no strangers to the Olympics.

Keith Smart has been one of the most outstanding international US fencers in memory and is undoubtedly the leader of this US team. Emotionally broken after his failure to hold the US lead in the 2004 games, he took a year away from fencing but his return has been nothing short of spectacular. Keith enters the 2008 games ranked 5th in the world and is on the short list of fencers that could strike gold.

Former Buckeye Jason Rogers (pictured above) is also a veteran of the 2004 Athens team and is coming off a very strong 2007 season. Jason is seeking to prove, like Smart, that the US collapse in the medal bouts in Athens were a fluke and establish the US as  Men's Sabre power. Tim Morehouse is entering his 2nd Olympics and is a  starter for the first time. Tim is fencing better than any point his career, putting together two years of top 20 world rankings.

The final member of the US Olympic Team is young James Williams, who is on just his second Senior National Team and has one of the fastest rises in recent memory. In 2004, when the other members of this team were fencing in Athens, Williams was a total unknown with almost no international experience at the senior level and in 4 years rose from a 552nd ranking in the world to 28th.

He will make a fine alternate to this US team and it would be a major shock if this is his last Olympic team. This Sabre team represents the US' best chance for a Men's Gold this Summer Games and even with out one of its most vital members, all the members are fencing very well coming into the games.
 
The US will surprise no one this time around and they will need to prove they can beat the Russians, French, or Italians to put the US mark on Men's Sabre.